"The bats of tropical Australia are reviewed with some 51 species recognized, though a few are very poorly known. A new subspecies, Pipistrellus tenuis westralis is described and Rhinolophus megaphyllus ignifer is synonymized with R. m. megaphyllus. The two previously recognized subspecies of Macroderma gigas are also synonymized. A majority of tropical Australian bats are restricted to mesic areas, but a number are more or less and tolerant. Only one species (Taphozous hilli) actually avoids mesic areas. The Cape York Peninsula has the greatest number of species with a falling off in numbers to the west and south. Of the three areas adjacent to tropical Australia, New Guinea shares a large number of species, whereas temperate Australia and the Lesser Sunda Islands share relatively few. New Guinea has probably been an important source area for tropical Australian bats, particularly those confined to the Cape York Peninsula. The low level of endemism among Australian bats strongly implies that there were no bats in Australia prior to the Miocene, when Australia drifted far enough to the north to be able to receive species occurring on the extended Malay archipelago. Since then some low level endemism and adaptive radiation has developed in Australia"--P. [1].

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American Museum NovitatesNovitates (Latin for "new acquaintances"), published continuously and numbered consecutively since 1921, are short papers that contain descriptions of new forms and reports in zoology, paleontology, and geology. New numbers are published at irregular intervals.